Five missense mutations at the adenosine deaminase locus (ADA) detected by altered restriction fragments and their frequency in ADA--patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (ADA-SCID).

Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a heterogeneous syndrome, due to X-linked and autosomal recessive defects. A significant proportion of the autosomal recessive forms of SCID are due to mutations at the adenosine deaminase (ADA) locus. Nine different mutations at the ADA locus, including 7 missense point mutations, have been reported in children with ADA-SCID. We could detect 5 of the 7 missense mutations associated with ADA-SCID by alterations in restriction fragments utilizing standard restriction digestion of genomic DNA and hybridization of radiolabelled ADA genomic probes to Southern transfers. We additionally developed more rapid nonradioactive methods employing digestion of genomic DNA amplified by PCR that also detected all 5 mutations. Using these methods, we have examined a sample of 45 ADA-SCID chromosomes and report that these 5 missense mutations account for one third of the ADA--chromosomes studied, with 2 mutations being relatively common.